As customers look for cosmetics online, L’Oréal brings delivers experiences. Source: Shutterstock

As customers look for cosmetics online, L’Oréal brings delivers experiences. Source: Shutterstock

L’Oréal leverages AR acquisition to delight Amazon Beauty customers

NOBODY expected cosmetics companies to transform into technology-driven innovation engines delighting customers with new and exciting solutions every day.

But that’s exactly what’s happening.

Cosmetics giants such as L’Oréal, SK-II, and Shiseido are leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and augmented reality (AR) to wow customers and steal the spotlight away from traditional vendors at premier technology conferences such as CES in Las Vegas.

For L’Oréal, the accelerated transformation involved acquiring ModiFace, a Canadian AR-based digital solutions startup in March last year, along with its 70 engineers, researchers, and scientists who had submitted more than 200 scientific publications and registered over 30 patents prior to the acquisition.

Since the deal, L’Oréal has leveraged Modiface for a number of intelligent and exciting AR-powered solutions, campaigns, and offerings.

Most recently, the cosmetics giant with 34 international brands under its umbrella announced that it will be leveraging ModiFace’s AR and AI capabilities to enable the first virtual try-ons for cosmetics on Amazon.

To be clear, the AR experience isn’t limited to L’Oréal’s offerings. Customers in the US and Japan (maybe more countries in the near future) will be able to try on any make-up on Amazon Beauty via AR.

With this innovation, customers will be able to use the front-facing camera on their mobile phone to digitally try on different shades of lipstick in a live video of themselves or on a selfie.

According to a press release, the uniqueness of the technology lies in its photo-realistic results and automatic, AI-enabled shade calibration.

The AR simulation of each shade is done automatically, based on AI-powered analysis of information provided by makeup brands, but also images and descriptions of the product available on social media.

The companies involved claim that the solution is able to analyze textual and visual information related to a particular makeup shade and realistically reproduce it via AR.

“We are excited to team up with ModiFace to make shopping for cosmetics online even easier by offering customers the ability to virtually try-on before they buy,” said Amazon’s Head of Amazon Beauty Nicolas Le Bourgeois.

“With this new AI-powered virtual experience, Amazon customers can now conveniently try-on thousands of lipstick products, save photos on their devices to share with friends and ultimately purchase with greater confidence –wherever they are, whenever they want, with products delivered right to their doorstep.”

For Amazon and L’Oréal, this is incredibly exciting news because it not only means that the companies will be able to better engage with customers but also significantly increases their appeal in the crowded marketplace.

In the future, it seems as though L’Oréal has a strong incentive to do more with AR — especially in markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong, where technology is at the heart of e-commerce and purchasing power soars higher every day.